Metalorganic chemical vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phase deposition apparatus

ABSTRACT

A Metalorganic chemical vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phase deposition apparatus, having a first gas source system, a reactor, an exhaust gas system, and a control unit, wherein the first gas source system has a carrier gas source, a bubbler with an organometallic starting compound, and a first supply section leading to the reactor either directly or through a first control valve, the carrier gas source is connected to an inlet of the bubbler through a first mass flow controller by a second supply section, an outlet of the bubbler is connected to the first supply section, and the carrier gas source is connected to the first supply section through a second mass flow controller by a third supply section, the first supply section is connected to an inlet of the reactor through a third mass flow controller.

This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)to German Patent Application No. 10 2020 001 894.7, which was filed inGermany on Mar. 24, 2020 and which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a metalorganic chemical vapor phaseepitaxy or vapor phase deposition apparatus.

Description of the Background Art

Metalorganic chemical vapor phase epitaxy is widespread for producingsemiconductor components. An extremely wide variety of vapor phaseepitaxy systems are known, such as those from the Aixtron company, forthe epitaxial production of semiconductor layers. Such systems are alsocalled MOVPE systems.

Vapor phase epitaxy systems have in common that the epitaxial layers aredeposited or grown from the gas phase on a substrate placed in areaction chamber. Upstream of the reaction chamber is a gas sourcesystem that provides the required elements in a precisely definedmixture ratio, hereinafter referred to as composition, in the gas phasefor a growth of layers in MOVPE.

The constituents of the layers are assembled from compounds calledprecursors. Often, the precursors are present in liquid or solid form ina vapor pressure saturator, also called a bubbler, and must be convertedto a gaseous state with the aid of a carrier gas for the epitaxyprocess. For this purpose, the carrier gas is conducted through thevapor pressure saturator. As a result of the vapor pressure of theprecursor material, which depends on the temperature and the pressure ofthe precursor material in the vapor pressure saturator among otherfactors, a specific quantity of the precursor material vaporizes and istransported by means of the carrier gas.

Depending on the layer system to be deposited, it is necessary to changethe makeup of the gases quickly in terms of time. For this purpose, theflow of the carrier gas is varied, while the pressure and temperature ofthe precursor material are kept constant.

The temperature of the precursor material is kept constant usingappropriate technical measures, such as by a thermal bath, for instance.

In order to change the makeup of the composition, the pressure of thegas source could likewise be varied, but in many cases the vaporpressure saturators in a production environment contain a volume ofseveral liters. It is a disadvantage here that a pressure change entailsthe exchange of a large quantity of gas, and the system does not arriveat a stable and defined state until after a relatively long period oftime. Defined layer growth is not possible during the settling time.

This has the result that both pressure and temperature are kept constantin the vapor pressure saturator, and only the flow of the carrier gas isvaried to adjust the makeup of the gas in the reactor.

In this case the flow of the carrier gas at the intake of the vaporpressure saturator is varied with a mass flow controller, and thepressure in the vapor pressure saturator is kept constant with apressure controller. In a steady state, exactly as much gas as isdelivered by the mass flow controller to the vapor pressure saturatorflows through the pressure controller, and the desired proportioning isachieved.

In an alternative prior art, the roles of the two controllers areswapped, and the pressure controller delivers enough gas to the vaporpressure saturator that a constant pressure is achieved, and a mass flowregulator regulates the flow into the reactor. To produce the layerstructure, both the aforementioned pressure controller and theaforementioned mass flow controller are connected to a control unit.Additional mass flow controllers can also be involved in order to dilutethe gas from the vapor pressure saturator or to complete a total flow.

At present, the mass flow controller and the pressure controller eachseparately constitute an independent regulating unit, wherein theregulating units each obtain set points from the higher-level controlunit.

It is a disadvantage that the pressure controller, for example, is notdesigned to produce a flow that is as constant as possible. If the flowthrough the vapor pressure saturator changes, then the pressure in thevapor pressure saturator also changes until the pressure controllerdetects the change and attempts to stabilize the pressure. During thestabilization, however, the flow of the carrier gas containing theprecursor materials is accomplished either through discharging thecarrier gas into the reactor or the exhaust gas system, or through anaccumulation.

The return to a stable state takes several seconds, depending on thesize of the vapor pressure saturator, and involves quite marked flowchanges. During this time, the gas source is not available for thegrowth of a stable layer structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide anapparatus that advances the state of the art.

According to the subject matter of the invention, a metalorganicchemical vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phase deposition apparatus isprovided.

The vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phase deposition apparatus has a firstgas source system, a reactor, an exhaust gas system, and a control unit.

The first gas source system has a carrier gas source, a bubbler with anorganometallic starting compound, and a first supply section leading tothe reactor either directly or through a first control valve.

The carrier gas source is connected to an inlet of the bubbler through afirst mass flow controller by means of a second supply section.

An outlet of the bubbler is connected to the first supply section.

The carrier gas source is connected to the first supply section througha second mass flow controller by means of a third supply section.

In addition, the first supply section is connected to an inlet of thereactor through a third mass flow controller, downstream after theconnection to the outlet of the bubbler and after the connection to thethird supply section.

The gas-mixing system has a pressure sensor on the first supply sectionor on the second supply section, or the pressure sensor isflange-mounted directly on the bubbler.

For epitaxial growth in a vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phase depositionapparatus, a total gas flow in the reactor is conducted over asubstrate. The total gas flow contains all elements necessary for alayer to be grown or deposited, for example elements of the III and/or Vmain group and/or dopants. Examples of this are binary, ternary, orquaternary layers, preferably of GaAs, InGaAs, InGaP, InGaAsP. It is amatter of course that the layers are usually doped, in particular withsilicon or zinc or tellurium.

Typically, multiple individual gas flows are brought together at theentrance of the reactor or in the reactor for the total gas flow,wherein each individual gas flow has at least one of the necessaryelements.

“Gas source system” can refer to a unit that provides an individual gasflow for at least one element, which is to say a gas mixture composed ofa carrier gas and a precursor for an element to be deposited. For thispurpose, the gas source system has, in particular, the carrier gassource and a bubbler.

“Bubbler” can refer to a vapor pressure saturator that is designed toconduct a carrier gas through a precursor located in the bubbler. Theprecursor, e.g., TMGa, is present in the bubbler in liquid form, forexample, wherein an equilibrium vapor pressure arises above theprecursor liquid as a function of a bubbler temperature.

The gas mixture composed of the carrier gas, e.g., H₂ or N₂, and gaseousprecursor compounds is conducted out of the bubbler to the reactor.

“Precursor” can refer to molecules that serve as a starting product forepitaxial growth. Accordingly, a precursor is a molecule formed of anelement to be grown, for example an element from the III or V main groupor a dopant, and at least one additional element.

It is a matter of course that the vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phasedeposition apparatus may, if applicable, have additional gas sourcesystems for additional precursors in order to produce layers frommultiple elements, for example gallium arsenide (GaAs) or aluminumgallium arsenide (AlGaAs), and/or layers with dopants such as silicon ortellurium.

Mass flow controllers are also referred to as mass flow ratecontrollers, and serve to regulate the mass flow in question through thesupply section in question to a desired value.

It is a matter of course that each mass flow controller may have a massflow sensor for this purpose, e.g., a calorimetric flow sensor or aCoriolis mass flow sensor, as well as a proportional valve and aseparate regulating unit and/or interface to the control unit of thevapor phase epitaxy apparatus.

It should be noted that the reactor is connected to the exhaust gassystem by means of a discharge section.

According to the background prior art, as initially mentioned, the gassaturation is regulated through the pressure by means of a pressurecontroller. The pressure controller in this case is arranged in thesecond supply section between the carrier gas source and the vaporpressure saturator, or more often between the vapor pressure saturatorand the reactor in the first supply section, and in this way replacesthe first or the third mass flow regulator of the present invention.

Pressure regulation in place of mass flow regulation does result instable mixture ratios when there are constant gas flows over arelatively long period, but the regulation is insufficientlyreproducible because of the slow transient response with poorly definedflow ratios when there are changes in the gas flow. Specifically in thecase of layer sequences, in particular with layer thicknesses below 1 μmor less than 100 nm or less than 10 nm, regulation by means of pressureaccording to the prior art results in variations in the thickness andthe composition of the layers.

Particularly in the case of large vapor pressure saturators with avolume of multiple liters, the previous pressure controllers are notdesigned for constant flow as is required for the application. Onereason is that with pressure regulation according to the prior art, alarge volume must be let into the reactor or into the exhaust gas systemin order to achieve a small pressure change. Varying composition in thegas flows is the consequence.

In the invention, the flow in the gas source is determined solely bymass flow regulators. A pressure controller is unnecessary.

According to the invention, the pressure can be adjusted by theregulating unit by means of the mass flow rate controller. For thispurpose, the pressure that is measured in the first or second supplysection or directly at the bubbler serves only as an input quantity.

Because the pressure changes only slowly in the event of a changed flowsituation or a changed composition on account of the preferably highvolume of the vapor pressure saturator, however, the pressure can now beguided by means of the regulating unit with prioritization of a stableflow into the reactor.

In an example of the invention, the flow balance through the gas sourceis regulated as a whole by the regulating unit, which is to say that incontrast to the prior art, individual control for independentcontrollers does not occur, but instead the regulation of all mass flowregulators involved is accomplished while taking into account theoverall balance.

It follows from this that it is unimportant for implementation of theinvention whether the pressure is measured in the first or second supplysection or directly at the bubbler for this purpose. The differentmeasurement points have a similar pressure in accordance with the flowbalance.

Preferably, the cross-sections of the line sections are suitablydimensioned to keep low the dynamic pressure owing to the flow of gas,with the result that the concrete measurement location has little effecton the pressure stabilization.

With appropriate control, even flow behaviors over time can beconsistently reproduced. Particularly when large bubblers are used, avery stable gas flow with a defined gas saturation is achieved, evenwhen there are brief changes in the composition of the gas flow.

Preferably, for this purpose a pressure change owing to a changeddesired flow value is anticipated and counterbalanced in advance by anadjustment of the other flows in the system. A pressure change isprevented in this way. No additional regulating unit is needed for thispurpose.

According to another example, the first supply section can be connectedto the exhaust gas system through a fourth mass flow controller,downstream after the connection to the third supply section and ahead ofthe third mass flow controller.

In another example, the control unit can be designed to read outpressure values of the pressure sensor and to regulate one or more orall mass flow controllers of the gas-mixing system while taking intoaccount the pressure values that have been read out.

The control unit can be designed to regulate the first mass flowcontroller and/or the second mass flow controller and/or the fourth massflow controller while taking into account a mass flow through the thirdmass flow controller.

In another embodiment, the first supply section has, parallel to a linesection that contains the third mass flow controller, a line sectionwith a pressure controller, wherein either the line section thatcontains the third mass flow controller or the line section of the firstsupply section that contains the pressure controller is shut off at agiven time.

The pressure sensor can be flange-mounted directly on the bubbler.

The bubbler can contain a solid precursor. In this design, the short andlong pipe lengths can be swapped in their connections.

The bubbler can contain a heating coil, in particular in order to heatthe solid precursor to a specified temperature.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes, combinations,and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from this detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitiveof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a view of an exemplary vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phasedeposition apparatus,

FIG. 2 shows a view of an exemplary vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phasedeposition apparatus, and

FIG. 3 shows a view of an exemplary vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phasedeposition apparatus

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The illustration in FIG. 1 shows a first example of a vapor phaseepitaxy or vapor phase deposition apparatus 10.

The vapor phase epitaxy or vapor phase deposition apparatus 10 has areactor 14, a control unit 18, at least one first gas source system 12,and an exhaust gas system 16.

It should be noted that the reactor 14 a is connected to the exhaust gassystem 16 by means of a discharge section that is not shown.

The gas source system 12 is connected to the reactor 14 and to theexhaust gas system 16 through a first supply section Z1 and a firstcontrol valve 13.

In addition, the gas source system 12 has a carrier gas source 20 for acarrier gas T, for example H₂ or N₂, and a bubbler 22 with, e.g., aliquid precursor P, for example TMGa.

The carrier gas is conducted from the carrier gas source 20 to an inletof the bubbler 22 through a second supply section Z2. The carrier gas Temerges from a pipe in the region of the bottom of the bubbler 22, andrises through the precursor P in the form of bubbles.

It should be noted that, in an embodiment that is not shown, theprecursor P is also implemented as a precursor P in solid form, which isto say as a solid precursor P. In this case, the short and long pipelengths can be swapped in their connections. In another embodiment, thebubbler 22 contains a heating coil, in particular in order to heat thesolid precursor P to a specified temperature.

An outlet of the bubbler 22 is connected to the first supply section Z1in order to conduct the emerging gas mixture, which is to say thecarrier gas T enriched by the precursor P, from the bubbler 22 into thereactor 14.

In addition, the carrier gas source 20 is connected to the first supplysection Z1 through a third supply section Z3 after the outlet of thebubbler 22. Preferably, the gases converge in a T-piece.

The gas stream from the carrier gas source 20 to the bubbler 22 throughthe second supply section Z2 can be regulated by means of a first massflow controller F1 and the gas stream from the carrier gas source 20 tothe first supply section Z1 through the third supply section Z3 can beregulated by means of a second mass flow controller F2.

Arranged in the first supply section downstream after the connection tothe third supply section Z3 and before the first control valve 13 is athird mass flow controller F3.

In addition, a pressure sensor P1 is arranged on the first supplysection Z1 or on the second supply section Z2—drawn with dashed lines—orflange-mounted directly on the bubbler 22—drawn with dashed lines.

It is a matter of course that the pressure sensor P1 is arranged on onlyone of the three positions. It should also be noted that the pressuresensor P1 and the mass flow controller are each connected to a controland analysis unit. The single control and analysis unit regulates themass flow controllers to the specified values in accordance with thespecifications of the control program in this case.

In the illustration in FIG. 2, another embodiment is shown. Only thedifferences from the illustration in FIG. 1 are explained below.

The gas source system 12 additionally has a fourth supply section Z4with a fourth mass flow controller F4, wherein the fourth supply sectionconnects the first supply section Z1 to the exhaust gas system 16, andfor this purpose is connected to the first supply section Z1 between thepressure sensor P1 and the third mass flow controller F3.

In the illustration in FIG. 3, another embodiment is shown. Only thedifferences from the illustration in FIG. 1 are explained below.

The first supply section has a pressure controller PC1, wherein thepressure controller PC1 is arranged to be parallel to the third massflow controller F3.

As a result, the first supply section has two line sections runningparallel to one another, each with either the pressure controller PC1 orthe mass flow controller F3.

During operation, either the third mass flow controller F3 or thepressure controller is always kept in an off state, which is to say, forexample, the flow of the mass flow controller F3 is set to zero, so thatthe gas flow only moves through one of the two parallel line sections ofthe first supply section.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to beincluded within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A metalorganic chemical vapor phase epitaxy orvapor phase deposition apparatus comprising: a first gas source system;a reactor; an exhaust gas system; and a control unit, wherein the firstgas source system has a carrier gas source, a bubbler with anorganometallic starting compound, and a first supply section leading tothe reactor either directly or through a first control valve, whereinthe carrier gas source is connected to an inlet of the bubbler through afirst mass flow controller via a second supply section, wherein anoutlet of the bubbler is connected to the first supply section, whereinthe carrier gas source is connected to the first supply section througha second mass flow controller via a third supply section, wherein thefirst supply section is connected to an inlet of the reactor through athird mass flow controller downstream after the connection to the outletof the bubbler and after the connection to the third supply section, andwherein the gas-mixing system has a pressure sensor on the first supplysection ahead of the third mass flow controller or on the second supplysection or the pressure sensor is flange-mounted directly on the bubblerin order to determine the flow in the gas source by the mass flowregulators.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the firstsupply section is connected to the exhaust gas system through a fourthmass flow controller downstream after the connection to the third supplysection and ahead of the third mass flow controller.
 3. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the control unit is designed to read outpressure values of the pressure sensor and to regulate one or more orall mass flow controllers of the gas-mixing system while taking intoaccount pressure values that have been read out.
 4. The apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein the control unit is designed to regulatethe first mass flow controller and/or the second mass flow controllerand/or the fourth mass flow controller while taking into account a massflow through the third mass flow controller.
 5. The apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the first supply section has, parallel to a linesection that contains the third mass flow controller, a line sectionwith a pressure controller, wherein either the line section thatcontains the third mass flow controller or the line section of the firstsupply section that contains the pressure controller is shut off at agiven time.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a precursorof the bubbler is designed as a solid precursor.
 7. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the flow in the gas source is determinedsolely by the mass flow regulators.